Live Fully

What do we pray for? What should we pray for? What can prayer do for us?

Praying for the sick – can science prove it helps?

1 October 2008

SAN DIEGO, United States — Proving scientifically that it helps to pray for a sick person is an elusive proposition, says Dr. Taeed Quddusi, one of the speakers at the 32nd annual conference of the North American Association for Baha’i Studies.

The first problem, he said, is designing an experiment, given that we are not sure of the desired result of a prayer.

“Is the point of prayer to prolong life?” he said during an interview after the conference.

He proceeded to answer, based on his understanding of the Baha’i teachings: “The point of our existence on this planet isn’t simply a longer life. The point of our existence is to know God, to worship God, to serve God.”

What about cases in which prolonging life would mean condemning a person to additional suffering, he asked. Then what is the desired result of the prayer?

And if we are not sure what effect we are seeking when we pray, how can a scientist assess the success of a prayer?

“We don’t really know what we are measuring,” Dr. Quddusi said.

“The Effects of Prayer on Healing and Recovery: A Review of the Literature” was the title of his presentation at one of the break-out sessions of the four-day Association for Baha’i Studies conference, which wound up on 1 September in San Diego. (See article.)

Dr. Quddusi, in his third year as a resident surgeon in otolaryngology at the University of Manitoba in Canada, says his review of the literature showed that studies of the efficacy of prayer have come up with mixed results.

But “meta-analysis” – where results are aggregated – shows no measurable effect, he states.

Does this mean prayer doesn’t work?

No, he says, because, in addition to the problem of determining what to measure, there are many factors that confuse the issue – factors that don’t necessarily lend themselves to scientific analysis. For example:

-- Does the fervency of the prayer matter? If so, how do you measure it?
-- Does the number of people praying for a sick person make a difference?
-- What about the worthiness of the “recipient” of the prayers? And what role does divine forgiveness play?
-- Should you take into account the seriousness of the illness?
-- Does the professed religion of the people involved, or absence of religion, influence the outcome?
-- Is it possible to have a true control group, given that people are always praying for other people, and the grace of God is constant and limitless?

(without permission from BNS)

I think my readers would appreciate this perspective and so I have copied the article in its entirety.

Dr. Taeed Quddusi, a resident Physician in Winnipeg Canada, says it will be difficult - probably impossible to scientifically prove the effectiveness of prayers said for healing.

The confluence of religion and multiculturalism

Religious Diversity and Multiculturalism

There is a debate going on in England and other Western European countries and which has relevance to Canadian policy on multiculturalism about the ways in which various religious beliefs can co-exist and whether these countries have gone too far to accommodate religious beliefs that are diametrically opposed to the Christian and other mainstream Western religious beliefs.

  Religion, unlike dress or food or music is at the heart of many people, especially newcomers – their religious faith sustains them in a new land. Our religious beliefs are at the core of who we are and many see adhering to religious doctrine as even more important than adhering to the law of a country.  This can sometimes be quite problematic.

   Canadian multiculturalism policy provides an open door to a potpourri of ideas including religious pluralism and it has done this in a safe and honorable manner.  There have always been religious and cultural groups that have kept themselves apart and practiced their way of life separate and apart from the mainstream e.g. the Mennonite, Hutterites, First nations communities etc.  These however co-existed very well. I never heard of a case where a traditional Hutterite fought human rights to wear their particular outfit as the Muslims, Sikhs and Aboriginal members have done but these are the days of human rights and there is access to these rights and people are encouraged to access their human rights which perhaps was not as well known or in vogue in yesteryear.

   However, since 911 and the fact that British grown Muslim youths carried out some serious terrorist activities, the British people have begun to question whether their liberalism in terms of cultural freedoms were too extreme, whether it served the British to have people keep their own customs and religious beliefs that kept them outside of the mainstream of British society rather than to insist on total integration and not make religious allowances within the law.  

   In the Canadian media recently, the Weekend Show host challenged Canadians to debate this topic in the open because he feels it is only a matter of time that this question will appear at our collective door.

    Is Canadian multiculturalism good for Canada? Is it a benefit that Canadians are encouraged to live their separate lives maintaining customs as if they were still living in their native land and create parallel, insular communities rather than creating a unified integrated society with strong Canadian ties and common values that bind us together and create a real sense of unity within this diversity.

The Importance of remaining positive in stressful times

There are lots of things happening in our world that can derail our sense of well being.  The looming economic crisis that threatens to change the way of life that we have known over the decades, the general elections in both the United States of America and Canada that may usher in new changes.  People are paying close attention to these elections and especially in the US, which is complicated by the incredible challenges they have.  The choice in the US is to change history by voting into office a visibly Black man, Barack Obama (even though he his bi-racial with half his genes coming from the White race) or to vote for more of the same with an elderly John McCain who is not the healthiest and should something untoward happens to him during his term of office, should he win then Sarah Palin could become the first woman President of the USA and what are her credentials for this job? It is all up in the air.  In Canada there is fear of Stephen Harper, many see him as a close ally to George Bush and very right wing.  The unwinnable war in Iraq and Afghanistan upon which billions of western dollars are poured into on an annual basis - some of us are troubled by the information we get from our media. On top of this there are some of our friends, neighbors and family members who have lost their homes in this economic crunch.  Many feel a sense of dread. But does your fear and dread help you in any way? No.
    You have to remain positive and strong in this so-called crisis. You have to return to reality.  You know we have been living in a dream and as in most dreams we have to wake up and face the heat of the sun in our faces.
  We have a lot of be grateful for anyway.  We live in the richest part of the world and we will never starve. People are kind and if we do not have food our neighbors will willingly share with us. We have good health in spite of everything, let us remember that and think of the alternative.  Once we have health we can work for what we want. Most important for us to do is to learn the lesson of our time, what is happening to us is a lesson from the universe that we must learn to live within our means and we have to adhere to the natural law.  If we bring in $50.00 a month and spend $200.00 a month there will come a time when we will be so deep in debt that we will not be able to pay the minimum. This is what has happened. Our debt is out of the water and we are feeling the squeeze.  This difficulty will not last forever.  Instead of feeling helpless, miserable and depressed take positive steps to address our collective problem but that must start with each one of us.  You have the power in your hands, there is a saying that goes lie this - if you change the way you look at things the things you look at change

1.    Stop looking at so much TV - the news is bad
2.    Engage in more exercise - go for walks with family and friends
3.    Put a stop to use of all your credit cards
4.    Do a financial check up - see where your money goes - seriously
5.    Live within your means - use cash for payment as much as possible
6.    For the next month write down what you spend, on what and why
7.    Make a gratitude list to counteract negativity
8.    Try not to worry about the things you cannot change
9.    Take action on those things you can change
10.     Be a Pollyanna and look for the good in things you will feel better.

Cultural Literacy 101

I am going to tell you this and it is true. Most people do not care about their culture in a day to day way but they care that others show respect to them.  What some people market as cross-cultural training is training in sensitivity to people you do not know very well.  Our culture is a human culture. Those who tend to be insensitive are the ones who believe they are superior to other people.

   No one will be mad at anyone if we show genuine interest and concern for others. We generally love speaking about the way we lived back in the old country.  It’s exchanging stories, it’s like sharing recipes.  When women get together and start talking about the way they cook various kinds of foods, it is a happy time.  A lot of learning, sharing and fun go on. If you are going to ask as question like “what is it that you guys eat that smells up the place… is it curry?”  that is going to be offensive and the speaker might have intended to make the other feel uncomfortable and giving a message that you’re in a new country try and adapt to our foods. That would be bigoted because hamburgers and French fries can be quite smelly as well. What makes one smell more palatable than the other?

    To get along with people from different cultures does not require you to go and read up about that culture.  It is much easier to learn something about the people from that culture by speaking to a person from the cultural group.  Here are a few general tips to keep in mind when speaking to a person from a different cultural group or a stranger from one’s own country that you have just met. It is true that because of the historical cultural hegemony of the Caucasians, people from third world countries are wary of their patronization and their sense of superiority so as soon as a Caucasian person may say something out of turn perhaps by trying too hard to be culturally sensitive, the other quickly jumps on him or her and shout racism.  It is therefore important for the Caucasian to be even more careful in projecting genuine interest in the other or don’t bother talking at all because people can easily see through insincerity. Here we go:

1.  Before you go on a cross-questioning fiasco, share something important about your own beliefs, customs or worldview.  Give up something about you thus encouraging the other to talk.

2.  Be direct, don’t try too hard to be politically correct. For instance you can say something like, it’s so great to live in a place like

Canada

with all these cultures living side by side in harmony. My folks came in the early 1900’s from

Finland

or

Scotland

or whatever, there was no EAL and they struggled, we do not even know how to speak Finnish, do you speak another language at home? Whatever you do, do not fire questions at a person you just met. That is rude and insensitive.

3.  If you give you will get.

4.  If you are genuinely interested people will feel it and respond to that.

5.  If you make a mistake apologize and move on, do not beat yourself up because I’m sure the person facing you will not think it is such a big deal if you do not make it into one.

6.  Remember the person opposite you wants the same thing you want to be respected as a human being; they want to understand and be understood.

7.  Try not to refer to a group of people as “you” people – that sounds demeaning. People always respond positively to questions like “what is your favorite food? or drink, or music?” this gives the person an opportunity to speak of themselves to someone who is interested and listening;

8.  While it is not essential to read up everything on a person’s culture because you will never learn of a person’s culture in a day or week but get glimpses of a person’s culture through positive interaction, it will be nice to know a thing or two about the country.  For instance if you are going to lunch with a person from Nicaragua it may be interesting to the Nicaraguan if you had a faint idea of where the country is located and some of the political figures, the products the country produces and so on.  You just have to know a little and the person will fill you in. Greeting the person by saying “Ola” breaks the ice and creates a warm feeling.

 

These are enough tips for you to be culturally literate my friends. You do not need a heck of a lot more but if I think of some, you will hear of it. Keep checking back.